Romeo &amp; Juliet

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Introduction

Jon Haldane 10v1 January 2002 Shakespeare Coursework - Romeo & Juliet ESSAY I have chosen to direct Act I, Scene 1. I have chosen this because the scene has a lot of action in it, which could be easily portrayed on a stage. It is important as it shows the rivalry and hatred between the two feuding groups, it is when the Prince Escalus issues his decree which has a big effect on the latter part of the story (when Romeo is banished from Verona to Mantua for killing Tybalt) and it introduces some of the main characters: Benvolio, Tybalt, Lord and Lady Capulet, Lord and Lady Montague, Prince Escalus and Romeo. I chose to set this scene in Donegal Road, Belfast, because when I started to try and think of two similar feuding groups to the Capulets and Montagues - groups locked in a conflict that seems to have no beginning and no foreseeable end, I thought of the Catholics and the Protestants in Ireland and especially in Belfast. I then did some research into how much the different areas of Belfast are populated by Catholics and Protestants, so that I could see in which places there would most likely to be high tension between the two groups, and Donegal Road seemed to me a place where there ...read more.

Middle

Sampson and Gregory, the two Capulet servants, I cast as two children, Peter and Michael, as I thought that children nowadays have roughly the same status as a servant did in the 16th century. For similar reasons, I cast Abraham and Balthazar, the two Montague servants, as Brian and Kevin, two protestant children. I cast Prince Escalus of Verona as the Chief Constable of the RUC because I thought that he had approximately the same authority and power as the Prince would have had then. In the beginning of the scene, the two catholic children are playing football in a road because this is something that is common to children of their age, and gives them a reason to be there. When they start talking about the Protestants, and what has happened recently concerning them, this just introduces the conflict between the two groups. Then one of the boys misses a pass with the football and turns around. This provides an opportunity for him to look around, enabling him to see the Protestants at the other end of the street. The other boy is then shocked when he realises who it is, because they did not expect them to show themselves after the recent conflicts, which the boys were being so cocky about. ...read more.

Conclusion

He, like David, obviously does not like the fighting. "I am fed up of all this. There is always fighting". He seems to appreciate David's advice but it is of no use to him "You can't help me this time". In contrast to David and Sean, Liam is very hotheaded and quick to anger. He is a troublemaker and a hateful person "I hate peace just as much as I hate hell, dirty papes and especially you". As this is the first scene of the whole play, I would like to audience to understand the strong hatred between the two groups right from the beginning of the scene. However, I would also like them to understand that there are some people who would prefer there to be peace, for example, Sean and David. I would like the audience to empathise with Sean, and feel themselves being caught up in the emotions of love and despair. The effect I would like this scene to have on the audience is that they would have some understanding of the pointlessness of these conflicts, and why they happen - children have been brought up to know nothing else. I would like the audience to be angry at the troublemakers at the beginning of scene, like Liam, and sad and sorry for Sean at the end of the scene. 1 ...read more.

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